Workmen have now moved in to resurface the stadium and drain the training ground.

And the Preston boss can't wait to get his squad back to work on lush turf after a nightmare year underfoot.

"Conditions should be first class next season," said Irvine after excavations began in Lea to lay pipework under the three main practice pitches.

"It is amazing how many sessions we have lost since I got here because of the bad weather.

"I honestly think we might have progressed a little bit quicker had we had decent training facilities."

Irvine guided North End to safety despite the Springfields swamp and Deepdale's worst surface for years.

And he admits he felt for predecessor Paul Simpson whose pre-season programme last year was badly hampered by the state of the training ground.

Despite the club spending cash on installing an irrigation system to keep the pitches in good condition throughout the summer, heavy rain through July did the job for free.

"It was flooded and I feel for Paul," he said.

"The stories I have heard about last pre-season are horror stories. Not only did they have problems here, but there were a lot of problems when they went to the United States as well."

Pitch experts arrived at Deepdale shortly after the last home game of the season and skimmed the top off the pitch ready for reseeding.

The club did a similar job last year, only for unseasonal summer weather to undo all their good work.

The pitch did not recover and skipper Paul McKenna described it as the worst he had played on in 11 seasons in the first team.

But while the Deepdale resurfacing is now done annually, Preston have had to find more than £100,000 for the unscheduled work at the training ground.

"It was very frustrating when I arrived to find we couldn't get out on the grass at Springfields as much as I would have liked," said Irvine.

"With the situation we were in we needed time to do work with the squad and somewhere to do it. And if you haven't got that it becomes very difficult.

"Fortunately the problems are now being addressed. We are getting the three pitches we tend to concentrate on completely drained.

"They are putting in pipe drainage and they are also sand-slitting them. They are doing the whole area from the fence on one side to the tree line on the other.

"So hopefully we will have a very well-drained area for next season. And, with the irrigation system which is already in there, we will be able to train on a good surface during the summer as well if the weather is dry."

Irvine hopes the training pitches will be in good nick when his players report back to work in July 1.

>> Irvine plans busy pre-season programme

>> New three-year deal for Davidson